Advent and Christmas fill my mind with so many words and images.

I think of millions of children born into searing poverty, particularly those living in refugee camps and those without basic amenities.

I think about 'the coming of our God' who chose similar circumstances for his taking up the flesh of our humanity.

I think about the angels whose glorious appearance would certainly have won them four straight tens!

But my mind stays with the image of that wondrous birth, so often portrayed in art, in music and poetry.

In his recent address to members of the Roman Curia, Pope Francis recalls that we are no longer living in a Christian world, and speaks of the need for pastoral conversion and being authentic missionaries.

Pope Francis’ discourse to the Roman Curia on Saturday 21 December, was important both in terms of what he said, and how he said it. Recognizing something that was already evident to several great men of the Church even before the Second Vatican Council, the Pope confirmed that: "Christendom no longer exists”.

In 2019 Pope Francis made seven international Apostolic Journeys to 11 countries. His has been an “itinerant pontificate” that has focused on the world’s geographical and existential peripheries.

“I'll tell you something: I don't like to travel.” These are the surprising words that Pope Francis pronounced on June 9 when addressing a group of children whom he received in the Vatican as part of the “Children's Train” initiative.

For 10 years, I lived in Ukiah, California (population 16,036), in a little cottage situated between St. Peter’s Eastern Catholic Church on the one side and a dilapidated footbridge where homeless people frequently gathered and occasionally slept on the other.

Ukiah has one of the highest homeless rates in the nation. As a 73-year-old widow living alone, I tried to discern who it was safe to talk to, who to ignore, and when it was time to call the police.

While there, I came to meet and know many homeless people. Here’s a little story I wrote about my experience.

I have always loved Advent. Even as a child, I was filled with the aching wonder of the season when my dad would lead us in singing O Come, O Come Emmanuel to the glow of the Advent wreath in the dark kitchen before dinner. My husband tells me the real reason that I love Advent is because of my melancholic temperament, for I love the feel of quiet waiting and planning with a twinge of sadness before we reach the festive joy of Christmas. We have sorrow in the fact that we are sinners and need a Savior to suffer and die for us.

The first reading for the First Sunday of Advent this year was Isaiah 2:1–5. It speaks of waiting for "days to come" when the nations "shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks," and they will not "train for war again."

With the abolition of the pontifical secret for cases of sexual abuse against minors, Pope Francis continues on the path of transparency.

Convened by Pope Francis in the Vatican in February 2019, the summit on the protection of minors continues to bear fruit. In fact, on Tuesday, 17 December, an important decision is being announced. It would not be hazardous to define it as historical. That decision regards the pontifical secret. The Pope, in fact, via a Rescript has decided to abolish it in cases of the sexual abuse of minors, of sexual violence and child pornography.

Cardinal Mauro Piacenza is the international president of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). The following text is excerpted from an Advent homily he gave Dec. 5, 2019, during Mass at ACN’s international headquarters in Königstein, Germany.

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was free from Original Sin from the very moment of her conception. The Immaculate Conception of Mary is often confused with the virginal conception of Jesus.

Today's feast was first approved by Pope Sixtus IV in 1476.

Two years ago, speaking before a Vatican sponsored international symposium titled "Prospects for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament," Pope Francis said we cannot fail to be "genuinely concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental effects of any employment of nuclear devices.

"If we also take into account the risk of an accidental detonation as a result of error of any kind, the threat of their use, as well as their very possession, is to be firmly condemned," said Francis.